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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

This would be the first time I am able to attend the Project
World and World Congress for Business Analyst (PW&WCBA) and the first time
staying inside the Walt Disney World Resort.
This venue is perfect to reduce stress, encourage relaxation and absorb
all the great information. I am excited
by the content and looking forward to the event. I have been privileged to work in several
diverse industries throughout my career as a Project Manager. Currently, I am working as a PM in healthcare,
which provides a different set of unique challenges. My organization is in the
process of moving from an IT-PMO to and Enterprise PMO. I see this change as a huge and exciting
challenge. I am glad to be part of the
team to develop an Enterprise PMO and utilize program and portfolio management. During my research on PMO’s and Portfolio
Management, I found the PW & WCBA conference offered the perfect
combination of educational sessions all in one place in three days.

The PW&WCBA has several very exciting presentation and
educational tracks to help increase my knowledge and improve the PMO’s current
foundation development. In reviewing the
“Agenda at a glance,” the PW&WCBA is offering several workshops on day one. There is one full day and a few half day
workshops. The workshop which peeks my
interest is the Full-Day Workshop, “Leadership:
Retooling Leadership (through the lens of Neuroscience),” presented by
William Greenwald of Humana, Inc. This workshop
will get inside the minds of great leaders.

On day two there
are some exciting Keynote speakers, both domestic and global. Since we live in a global world I believe
global representation is vital. After
some Opening Remarks from Chuck Millhollan of Churchill Downs, Inc., we will
hear from Ralph Luck, UK Olympic Delivery Authority. Managing any part of the Olympics would be a
huge responsibility for any Project Manager. I am sure Ralph has a few stories to tell and
lessons learned. The final keynote
speaker for the day is Naomi Karten, Author of several great books, the topics
include presentation skills, managing, communicating change and managing
expectations. The final presentation for
the morning has an interesting title, “Speed Mentoring.” I had to smile and think is this like speed
dating, where you have three minutes with each mentee?

After lunch there are four education tracks you could follow
or you may move between the tracks.
These tracks include; From PM to
Project Leader, From Business Analyst to Business Strategist, Best Practice
PM/BA Collaboration and Tools, Techniques and Trends. One of the speakers should be familiar if you
are a PM or have taken any PM classes, J. LeRoy Ward. He was pivotal in studying for the PMP
certification. He will be presenting, “14 Project Leadership Skills to Boost
Your Career.” This session is a definite
must to attend!

There is no shortage of excellent keynote speakers on the third and final day. William Greenwald, Humana, from the workshop
on day one, Gurpreet Singh Kanwar, NAV Canada, a not-for-profit responsible for
Canada’s Civil Air Navigation System and Carey Lohrenz, US Navy’s first female
F-14 Fighter Pilot and team-building, leadership and strategy expert. As a woman, I admire strong successful
women. You will find me in the front for
her presentation!

After lunch, I would advise you, not to leave early. In the
afternoon the educational track will continue with many more exciting
topics. At first glance, a few which
peek my interests include, “Is a PMP Needed, or is it Simply an Option?”
“Building a successful Requirements Re-Use Program,” Mind Mapping Techniques to
Improve Project Brainstorming,” “Collaboration and Planning” and “The Art of
Process Mapping Fast,” just to name a few.
These presentations are definitely worth, staying until the end to hear
the closing remarks.

These three days will be packed full of great information
and networking opportunities. We will be in sunny Florida and be able to enjoy
the sights and sounds. I look forward to
meeting and speaking with many of you during this conference and I hope you
look forward to learning a lot and reading more from these informative blogs.